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K-State reviews missed opportunities against KU

Kansas guard Naadir Tharpe, right, tries to steal the ball from Kansas State guard Shane Southwell during the second half of the Jayhawks' 59-55 win Tuesday against the Wildcats.

MANHATTAN — A close scrutiny of the tape from Kansas State's loss to Kansas will show the Wildcats a handful of plays that could have made the difference in a four-point loss.

One or two better shots, a turnover here and there or grabbing a loose ball. All of those potential opportunities that weren’t converted added up to a 59-55 loss for the No. 11 Wildcats against the No. 3 Jayhawks on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum.

“I told the guys before the two difference-makers in the game would be the little things,” Wildcats coach Bruce Weber said. “The loose balls, the 50-50 balls and offensive rebounds — and they won that battle, no doubt about it — and then the other guys. (Perry) Ellis and (Naadir) Tharpe coming in the first half when they had foul trouble and they made the difference. We didn’t have enough other guys to do damage.

“Taking care of the basketball is a big key against them. We had 10 turnovers and if we keep it at seven or six, three or four possessions might be the difference in the game, but they are so good from the defensive end to the offensive end. You only get a couple of opportunities against great teams like that to win games and you have to make the plays to make a difference.”

Shane Southwell led K-State with a career-high 19 points and seven rebounds, but he pointed out his own shortcomings.

“Tonight I went 5-for-11 from (3-point range) and I felt that if I had followed through on about three of them I would have made them,” Southwell said. “Other than that, we have to do better on the little things, like coach said: A couple of loose balls, a couple of gambles, a couple of rebounds. There was one in particular when I let Kevin Young get an offensive rebound and I should have got that.

“Anytime you play against a good team like this you want to win, especially the magnitude of how big the rivalry is. They win all the time so we have to start getting some wins against them.”

K-State owns only three wins over KU in the past 40 games, and the Jayhawks are 23-2 in Bramlage.

“I’m a little upset that we lost that game,” Wildcat guard Rodney McGruder said. “This was the last time we play them here in Bramlage, but like coach says you can’t keep your head down. We have a lot of basketball left so this can’t be the end of it right here.

“We have to get over it, just as if we’d won, and prepare for Iowa State. They care not if we won or lost this game, they’re going to be prepared for us so we have to let this one go and see (KU) down the road.”

The loss left Wildcats 15-3 overall, with all losses to teams currently ranked in the top 10. It was their first Big 12 Conference loss, leaving them tied for second place, one game behind the Jayhawks (17-1, 5-0).

“It’s an opportunity and we didn’t grab it but there’s a long way to go, a lot of games to go,” Weber said. “Right now they are 5-0 but you have a bunch of people 4-1 right behind. The league has great balance and I hope we can compete for that top echelon of teams.”

K-State plays Saturday at Iowa State, another team battling to stay near the top of the standings.

“We have to play Saturday,” Weber said. “If we won (against KU), we still have to go there Saturday. I talk about focusing on the long journey and being consistent. There’s a lot of basketball. We have to get better. We’ve played pretty good basketball. We’ve played pretty good defensively but there are some little mistakes.

“We’re a good team, but are we going to stay there or are we going to get better? Are we going to move forward, or stay stagnant or go backward? We’ll find out the next couple of weeks.”